Jim Gould papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 119.6842

Staff Only

The Jim Gould papers contains original role-playing game and wargame campaign materials, notes, hand-drawn and printed maps, manuscript modules, and other related documentation. The collection features documents from Dungeons & Dragons, GURPS (Generic Universal RolePlaying System), and a variety of play-by-mail wargames, as well as various scripts and other ephemera from Gould’s time working on various haunted houses and tours in the Austin, Texas area. Additional scope and content information can be found in the Contents List section of this finding aid.

The collection is organized into five series, with three series focused on a specific game line or type of game, an additional series dedicated to Gould’s work with “haunted houses,” and a final series that contains miscellaneous documents and game materials. The collection is housed in three archival document boxes, one media box, and three oversized folders.

Dates

1977 - 2010
Majority of material found within 1982 - 1986

Creator

Gould, James ("Jim"), 1960-2019 (Person)

Language

The materials in this collection are in English.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is open for research use by staff of The Strong and by users of its library and archives. Though the donor has not transferred intellectual property rights (including, but not limited to any copyright, trademark, and associated rights therein) to The Strong, he has given permission for The Strong to make copies in all media for museum, educational, and research purposes.

Extent

4 Linear Feet (3 document boxes, 1 media box, 3 oversized folders)

Additional Description

Abstract

The Jim Gould papers are a collection of original and published materials related to tabletop games and wargaming, including campaign materials, notes, hand-drawn and printed maps, manuscript modules, and other related documentation. The bulk of the materials are undated but range from 1977-2010.

Biographical Note

James (“Jim”) Gould (1960-2019) was an avid fan and occasional writer of tabletop role-playing games and wargames. He had extensive experience creating and running modules as a dungeon/game master, which likely impacted his later work on the game Mini Car Wars, a scaled-down version of the Steve Jackson tabletop game Car Wars. Gould also collected board games and role-playing games.

System of Arrangement

Series I: Dungeons & Dragons documentation and ephemera, 1977-1993 and n.d.

Series II: GURPS documentation and ephemera, 1982-2003 and n.d.

Series III: Wargames documentation and ephemera, 1978-2004 and n.d.

Series IV: Haunted attractions documentation and ephemera, 1992-2010

Series V: Miscellaneous games, 1981-2006 and n.d.

Custodial History

The Jim Gould papers were donated to The Strong in November 2019 as a gift in memory of James Warren Gould. The papers were accessioned by The Strong under 119.6842. The papers were received from Thom Kobayashi along with more than 500 games, books, magazines, and other ephemera.